Prof. Roberto CASTILLO 陳古城
Associate Professor
Location: Room 107 Ho Sin Hang Building 何善衡樓107室
Phone: (852) 2616 7487
Fax: (852) 2572 5170
Email: [email protected]
Areas of Interest: Ethnography, Mobility and Migration, Media Representation, 'Race' and Racism, Africa - China Relations, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Transnational Gentrification, Asian Influencer Cultures in Latin America, Politics of Knowledge Production
I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Cultural Studies at Lingnan University, Hong Kong. My research examines transnational cultural flows, media representation, race, and migration, with a particular focus on South–South connections and the global circulation of diasporic imaginaries. I am the author of African Transnational Mobility in China: Africans on the Move (Routledge, 2021), and in 2022 I was listed among Stanford’s World’s Top 2% Researchers.
My work has explored African mobilities in China, China–Africa relations in popular culture, and the racial politics of knowledge production. More recently, I have turned to investigating transnational gentrification, Asian influencer cultures in Latin America, and digital aesthetics in both Latin America and Asia.
I have lectured at the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and was previously a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Cultural Studies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. I hold a PhD in Cultural Studies from Lingnan University, a Master’s in Cultural Studies from the University of Sydney, and earlier training in International Relations, History, and Journalism. I have lived and worked in Hong Kong since 2011.
I also administer the website www.africansinchina.net.
PhD in Cultural Studies, Lingnan University Hong Kong
Master of Cultural Studies, University of Sydney
Bachelor of International Relations with Honours, University of the Americas
Books:
Castillo, Roberto. Race and Racism in Africa-China Relations: Blackfaces and Yellow Perils.Routledge: London. Forthcoming.
Castillo, Roberto. (2021). African Transnational Mobility in China: Africans on the Move. Routledge: London.
Journals:
Castillo, Roberto. (2025). “The Scramble for Xiaobei: Epistemic Extraction, Racialised Knowledge, and Representation in Africa-China Urban Encounters.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 26 (6).
Castillo, Roberto and Albarrán-Torres, César. (2025). “La Coreañera” plays cumbia: reimagining “Asianness” in Latin American visual social media cultures. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649373.2025.2523154
Yoon, Soo Ryon, Masubuchi, Asako, and Castillo, Roberto. Eds. (2024). ‘Editors’ Introduction: Cultural Constructions of Race and Racism in China, Koreas, and Japan.’ In Cultural Constructions of Race and Racism Research Collective, Lateral. https://doi.org/10.25158/CcRrrC-East-Asia.1
Castillo, Roberto. (2021). ‘The Han saviour behind the blackface: racialised and gendered media representations in Africa-China popular geopolitics’. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Journal 22(3). DOI: 10.1080/14649373.2021.1966905
Amoah, Padmore, Hodzi, Obert, and Castillo, Roberto. Eds. (2020). Africans in China and Chinese in Africa: Identities, Inequalities and Well-being. Special Issues of Asian Ethnicity 21(4).
Amoah, Padmore, Hodzi, Obert, and Castillo, Roberto. (2020). ‘Africans in China and Chinese in Africa: Inequalities, Social Identities, and Wellbeing’. Asian Ethnicity 21(4): 457-463. DOI: 10.1080/14631369.2020.1784706
Castillo, Roberto and Amoah, Padmore. (2020). ‘Africans in post-COVID-19 pandemic China: is there a future for China’s ‘new minority’?’ Asian Ethnicity 21(4): 560-565. DOI: 10.1080/14631369.2020.1773760.
Castillo, Roberto. (2020). ‘‘Race’ and ‘racism’ in contemporary Africa China relations research: approaches, controversies and reflections’. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Journal 21(3): 310-336. DOI: 10.1080/14649373.2020.1796343
Castillo, Roberto. (2016). ‘“Homing” Guangzhou: emplacement, belonging and precarity amongst Africans in China,’ International Journal of Cultural Studies, 19(3): 287-306.
Castillo, Roberto. (2015). ‘Landscapes of aspiration in Guangzhou’s African music scene: beyond the trading narrative,’ The Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 44(4).
Castillo, Roberto. (2014). ‘Feeling at home in the “Chocolate City”: an exploration of place-making practices and structures of belonging amongst Africans in Guangzhou,’ Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 15 (2): 235-257.
Other Writing:
Castillo, Roberto 2020. ‘How Africans in China challenge stereotypical views on African migration’. Analysis piece for Quartz Media. Link
Castillo, Roberto. 2020. ‘How discrimination towards Africans and China’s surveillance state will reset a migration trend’. Analysis piece for Quartz Media. Link
Castillo, Roberto. 2020. ‘African migration to China may never be the same again’. Analysis piece for African Arguments. Link
Castillo, Roberto. 2018. ‘Chinese media is obsessed with portraying China as Africa’s saviour’. Analysis piece for Quartz Media. Link
Castillo, Roberto. 2018. ‘What “blackface” tells us about China’s patronising attitude towards Africa’. Analysis piece for The Conversation – Africa. Link
Castillo, Roberto. 2016. ‘Of Washing powder, Afrophobia and racism in China’. Analysis piece for The Conversation – Africa. Link
Race and Racism in Africa-China Relations: Contemporary Social Media Narratives and Representations. General Research Fund. Jan 2024 – Dec 2026.
Race and Racism in Africa-China Relations: Contemporary Social Media Narratives and Representations. Direct Grant. LU Research Committee. Jan 2023 – Dec 2024.
Made-in-China Nollywood: New Geographies of African Diasporic Imagination. Early Career Scheme (ECS) 2018/19. Research Grant Council (RGC). Project Fund: HK$ 504,000.
Made-in-China Nollywood: New Geographies of African Diasporic Imagination. Faculty Research Grant from the Research & Postgraduate Studies Committee of Lingnan University: HK$ 49,350.
Africans in Guangzhou: a cultural analysis of transnationality amongst Africans on the move. Full time doctoral research funded by the UGC: HK$ 720,000.
‘Africans in China and Chinese in Africa: why is everyone talking about China Africa relations now?’ A public lecture organised by the Chi Sun College of the University of Hong Kong. Kennedy Town, Hong Kong, 3 April 2018.
‘Africans in Southern China: Myths and Realities’. Public Lecture for the launching of the ‘Vibrant Africa Festival’ organised by the Hong Kong Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Tsim Tsa Tsui, Hong Kong, 18 September 2017.
‘Chinese Soft Power and African Cosmopolitan Futures’. A talk given at the ‘Africa-China : Mapping an Emergent Axis’ seminar series organised by the Architecture Department of the University of Hong Kong. Hong Kong, China, 27 April 2017.
‘Routes, Roots, and Rhythms: Research on Ethnicity and Migration in the Southern China Region’. A panel organised by the Centre for Cultural Studies of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Hong Kong, China, 21 April 2017.
‘Encountering Racism’. A talk given at the Inter-Asia Summer School 2016. Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China, June 2016.
‘One Belt One Road: What’s in if for Africa?’. A talk given at the ‘One Belt One Road: Possible Impacts on the Regional and Global Relations’ seminar organised by the General Education Unit of the University of Hong Kong. Hong Kong, China, 17 March 2016.
‘African musicians in search of the “Chinese Dream”: beyond the narratives of trade and “immigration”’. A talk given at the Asia Art Archive as part of the Mapping Asia Project. Hong Kong, China, July 2014.
[Television] Guest on Al-Jazeera’s ‘The Stream’ T2018, E:79 – ‘What’s it like being Black in China?’. Link
[Podcast] Guest. Olander, Eric (Interviewer). ‘Black Panther sparks debate over anti-black racism in China’. Podcast for The China Africa Project. Link
[Written Collaboration] Castillo, Roberto. (2018) ‘Chinese media is obsessed with portraying China as Africa’s saviour’. Analysis piece for Quartz Media. Link
[Written Collaboration] Castillo, Roberto. (2018) ‘What “blackface” tells us about China’s patronising attitude towards Africa’. Analysis piece for The Conversation – Africa. Link
[Written Collaboration] Castillo, Roberto. (2016) ‘Of Washing powder, Afrophobia and racism in China’. Analysis piece for The Conversation – Africa. Link
[Report] Interview. Marsh, Jenni. ‘The African migrants giving up on the Chinese dream.’ CNN, June 2016. Link
[Report] Interview. Marsh, Jenni. ‘Afro-Chinese marriages boom in Guangzhou: but will it be “till death do us apart”?’ South China Morning Post, 1 June 2014. Link
[Report] Interview. Piranty, Sam. ‘Economic nomads in a city of flows,’ Think Africa Press, 22 October 2013. Link
[Blog] Informant. Lagarde, Stéphane. ‘Canton L’Africaine: des footballeurs devenus hommes d’affaires,’ 6 October 2013. Radio France International. Link
[Report] Interview. Tejpe, Rhia. ‘The Africans making it big in China,’ Agence France Press AFP, 19 September 2013. Link